Government must address Police Widows’ Pensions injustice

Posted by Mark Williams | Updated 2017-03-21

Mark Williams, Member of Parliament for Ceredigion and Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has criticised the Government for its failure to address the concerns of police widows who would lose their pension were they to remarry or move in with a partner.

His criticism came after a debate in Parliament took place to raise the difference in policy for those police widows in England and Wales and those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

While the policy has now changed in England and Wales to ensure that those women who remarry or move in with a partner do not lose their pension, those who became widows under the old regulation are still affected.

Campaigners are calling for the regulations to be brought into line with those in place in Northern Ireland, where widows or widowers who lost a spouse from 1989 are paid their pension retrospectively.

Mark said “the stress, frustration and financial uncertainty that these widows have been put in is completely unjustifiable. Simply due to their partner dying before the new regulations were put in place and living in England or Wales rather than Northern Ireland, many are forced to choose between future happiness and their pension.

“While I welcome that the new regulations ensure that new and serving officers will not have to worry about their partners should the worst happen, there are still many widows who continue to be ignored by the Government.

“It is time that the Government righted this injustice and made sure that every widow is treated fairly, no matter which part of the UK they live in.”

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